Profile: Mohammad Hasan Akhund, the head of Taliban government

Mullah Akhund, who is on a UN sanctions list, was the foreign minister in the previous Taliban regime in the 1990s.

The Taliban have named Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund to lead their new interim government, nearly three weeks after the group seized control of the country. Mullah Akhund is the longtime head of the Taliban’s powerful decision-making body Rehbari Shura, or leadership council. He was first the foreign minister and then deputy prime minister during the Taliban’s last rule from 1996-2001 before being appointed to head the new government on Tuesday. Akhund, who is on a UN sanctions list, was the foreign minister in the previous Taliban regime in the 1990s.